This invention relates to an integral mounting base support for electronic and other components, and is more particularly directed to such supports, which may be constructed of electrical insulating material, such as plastic, which can be fabricated in one piece with an associated electronic or similar component, such as a stand-off, circuit board support, clip, clamp, mounting rivet or screw or the like.
Such supports may be used for securing a circuit board or component on a chassis or for mounting a component or circuit board on another circuit board or frame or panel. These supports are often made of plastic or other electric insulating material to prevent unintended shorting or passage of electrical current from the component or circuit board to the media on which the component is mounted, except for intended electrical connection (in which case the support may be used to assure such connection). Such supports may also be fabricated in metal and used to secure a bolt, stud or the like. The mounting of the component must be rigid enough to inhibit or withstand shock or other movement affecting its mounting position. The mounting base should also be fabricated so it can be oriented in a horizontal, vertical or angular position.
Such a support must be easy to install and lock on an underlying surface. It is also desirable to provide simple means for releasing and withdrawing the supporting from the underlying surface, preferably from the top side of the underlying surface, in case the circuit board or component which requires servicing or repair or replacement, but during use the support must be securely locked in the desired selected position. With miniaturization prevalent in electronic devices, it is very desirable to make the support as shallow as possible, thus permitting the stacking of more components or boards within a given dimension and the support preferably protrudes as little as possible below the chassis or other underlying surface on which it is mounted.
Sometimes, the mounted component is so heavy or bulky as to require more than a single support to hold it. In such a case, conventionally, the spacing between the intended supports becomes critical. Where the support receiving means is an apertured panel or the like, the dimension between apertures and the kind of material used in fabricating the panel and support is also critical, because some materials have expansion or shrinkage characteristics which affect the mounting of the support, particularly where there is heat build-up which can affect the support during usage. The expansion or contraction characteristics of the support and receiving media make mounting of the support extremely difficult with conventional supports, because a slight change in the space between apertures in the underlying media can distort, loosen or dislodge the component.
A preferred support must be able to resist unintended rotation during use, particularly where the support is subjected to vibration or movement. An ideal support will require minimum insertion and extraction force for mounting in an apertured surface, without the use of special machines or tools. The underlying surface on which a support is mounted is of a given area, and miniaturization of electronic and similar devices requires that as large a number of supports as possible should be mounted within a given area, so it is worthwhile to provide a support which, while adequately holding the component, takes up as little space as possible on the underlying surface.
Some conventional supports cannot be suitably secured in a position other than horizontal, so that the component formed integrally with it must be oriented vertically on the underlying panel. Where the component is mounted other than vertically, shear forces can destroy the component or support, or when the panel is arranged other than horizontally, shock or other forces can cause the support to be pulled out of its mounting aperture, so that such structures may be of limited use because of this restricted orientation of the support on its underlying surface.